May God Be Gracious. Psalm 67:1-7

Transcription

1 1 Commentary by Clyde M. Miller Questions by John C. Sewell May God Be Gracious Psalm 67:1-7

2 2 Text: Psalm 67:1-7, May God Be Gracious Commentary by Clyde M. Miller 1. May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah 2. that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. 3. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. 4. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah 5. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. 6. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. 7. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (NIV) Introduction: I. God is spoken of obliquely in the third person at the beginning (1-2) and the end (6-7), but also in direct address in the middle (3-5). A. Psalm 67:1, 2, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. (NIV)

3 3 B. Psalm 67:3-5, May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) C. Psalm 67:6, 7, Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (NIV) D. He is the central focus of the psalmist s thoughts. II. This thanksgiving psalm begins with a prayer for God s blessings (1-2) and concludes by declaring that God will bless mankind (6-7). A. Psalm 67:1, 2, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. (NIV) B. Psalm 67:6, 7, Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (NIV) C. The exhortations for the nations to praise God (3, 4a, 5) and fear Him (7b) reveal a secondary theme of human response to divine blessing. 1. Psalm 67:3, 4, 5, 7, May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (NIV)

4 The prayer for God to reveal himself to the world (2) indicates the motive for praise. a. Psalm 67:2, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. (NIV) 3. The theme can be stated to be universal praise for cosmic blessings. D. The refrains in verses 3 and 5 mark the paragraph divisions. 1. Psalm 67:3, 5, May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) III. The psalm opens with a plea for God to be gracious to Israel in order that all nations may know of His salvation (1-3). A. Psalm 67:1-3, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) B. It continues with an invitation for the nations to be glad and praise God (4-5). 1. Psalm 67:4, 5, May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV)

5 5 C. It concludes with an invitation for all to fear God (6-7). Commentary: 1. Psalm 67:6, 7, Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (NIV) May God Be Gracious Psalm 67:1-3, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) Psalm 67:1, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah (NIV) I. Verse 1 reflects in part the priestly benediction found in Numbers 6:24-26). A. Numbers 6:24-26, '"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."' (NIV) B. The psalmist prays that God be favorable by blessing Israel. C. Make his [God s] face shine upon us refers to divine favor and approval (Ps. 4:6). 1. Psalm 4:6, Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. (NIV)

6 The passage in Psalm 4 has someone asking, Who can show us any good? a. The question is answered with the prayer, Let your face shine upon us, O LORD. b. The motive is the same as for Psalm 67; he wants God to act toward Israel so that the pessimist will be answered. Psalm 67:2, that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. (NIV) I. Verse 2 states the purpose of the prayer. A. The hope is that all nations will see the uniqueness of God who blesses Israel and want to share in her salvation. 1. False gods fail to hear or act (Isa. 41). a. Isaiah 41:1-29, "Be silent before me, you islands! Let the nations renew their strength! Let them come forward and speak; let us meet together at the place of judgment. "Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before. Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD - with the first of them and with the last I am he." The islands have seen it and fear; the ends

7 7 of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward; each helps the other and says to his brother, "Be strong!" The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer spurs on him who strikes the anvil. He says of the welding, "It is good." He nails down the idol so it will not topple. "But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. "All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you," declares the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. "See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. You will winnow them, the wind will pick them up, and a gale will blow them away. But you will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel. "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched

8 8 with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. "Present your case," says the LORD. "Set forth your arguments," says Jacob's King. "Bring in your idols to tell us what is going to happen. Tell us what the former things were, so that we may consider them and know their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come, tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear. But you are less than nothing and your works are utterly worthless; he who chooses you is detestable. "I have stirred up one from the north, and he comes one from the rising sun who calls on my name. He treads on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he were a potter treading the clay. Who told of this from the beginning, so we could know, or beforehand, so we could say, 'He was right'? No one told of this, no one foretold it, no one heard any words from you. I was the first to tell Zion, 'Look, here they are!' I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good tidings. I look but there is no one no one among them to give counsel, no one to give answer when I

9 9 ask them. See, they are all false! Their deeds amount to nothing; their images are but wind and confusion. (NIV) Psalm 67:3, May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) I. Verse 3 is a synonymous couplet that repeats the prayer for emphasis. II. It forms a refrain (cf. v. 5) involving the central emphasis of the psalm. A. Psalm 67:5, May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) May the Nations Be Glad Psalm 67:4-5, May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) Psalm 67:4, May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. Selah (NIV) I. Verse 4 is a climactic triplet that states the reasons for the peoples rejoicing in song. A. God rules the peoples justly and guides the nations. 1. The word justly is implied in the third line. B. God s fair judgments are often emphasized in the book of Psalms (9:8; 45:6; 75:2; 96:10; 98:8-9; 99:4, et al).

10 Psalm 9:8, He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice. (NIV) 2. Psalm 45:6, Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. (NIV) 3. Psalm 75:2, You say, "I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge uprightly. (NIV) 4. Psalm 96:10, Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns." The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. (NIV) 5. Psalm 98:8, 9, Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. (NIV) 6. Psalm 99:4, The King is mighty, he loves justice you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right. (NIV) 7. The repetition of the prayer reveals the intensity of the psalmist s desire. Psalm 67:5, May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. (NIV) I. Verse 5 repeats verse 3 precisely. See the notes there.

11 11 May the Nations Fear God Psalm 67:6-7, Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (NIV) Psalm 67:6, Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. (NIV) I. The word then is used in a logical sense. A. When Israel trusts God s universal power and demonstrates that knowledge among the nations, God will in turn grant a great blessing on Israel in the form of bountiful harvests. B. A righteous reward for Israel s faith is expressed. Psalm 67:7, God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. (NIV) I. Former prayers are now declared as fulfillment. A. Instead of may we now have the declaration will. 1. Will fear him is used for the first time in the closing line. II. The psalmist envisions the nations honoring God along with the Israelites. Application: I. Prayer is a very powerful thing.

12 12 A. It is so treated in many of the psalms of lament and petition, and it is common in psalms of thanksgiving. B. In the New Testament, we are exhorted to ask God for wisdom in order that we may learn to pray with right motives (Jas. 1:2-8). 1. James 1:2-8, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (NIV) C. We are warned against praying with wrong motives (Jas. 4:1-3). 1. James 4:1-3, What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (NIV) D. A person s prayer life can be his greatest blessing for good and his greatest defense against depression and despair (2 Cor. 4:8-9).

13 Corinthians 4:8, 9, We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (NIV)

14 14 Questions Psalm 67:1-7 (Questions based on NIV text.) 1. The palmist prayed, May be to and and make his upon. 2. What benefits would accrue to God for granting this prayer? 3. The psalmist further prayed, May the you, O ; may all the you. May the be and for, for you the and the of the. 4. May the you, O God; may all the you. 5. To what time frame does the word then refer in verse 6?

15 Then the will its, and, our, will us. 7. What will be the results of God s blessing his people? 8. For what did the psalmist pray for the benefit of God? 9. For what did the psalmist pray for his personal benefit and the benefit of other people? 10. Does what benefits humans benefit God?... and does what benefits God benefit humans? Explain.

16 This psalm begins with a for s and concludes by that God will. 12. Record here the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:24-26 and note its similarity with Psalm What is the central emphasis of Psalm 67? 14. What do the psalms say about God s fair judgments? 15. Prayer is a very powerful thing! Give evidence that this is true. _ 16. How are prayer and wisdom related?

17 How are the petitioner s motives and prayers related? 18. How can prayer bless your life? 19. Can prayer cure depression and despair? If so, how? 20. What is the purpose of prayer?